INTRIGUING

a year ago

Jailed Russian Hacker: I Can Prove Kremlin Ordered DNC Hack

A Russian man who claims to have hacked into the computers of the Democratic National Committee on the Kremlin’s orders has now offered new details that he says could prove his assertions. Konstantin Kozlovsky, who was jailed in Russia this year, told a court in August that Russia’s FSB instructed him to hack into the DNC computers during the 2016 presidential election. In an interview with Russia’s Dozhd TV published Wednesday, Kozlovsky said his cyberattacks weren’t limited to American institutions and that he also took part in the WannaCry cyberattack that rocked 150 countries last May. The U.S. recently blamed North Korea for that attack. “All the statements in Western media about Russian hackers—that’s all me,” he was quoted as saying by Dozhd. Kozlovsky says his involvement in the DNC hack can be proven with the help of a “poison pill” he left behind after fearing his FSB handlers might turn on him: He claims he left his passport number and other personal data hidden in a .dat file during the hack.